Field
This disclosure provides techniques for interacting with virtual environments. More specifically, embodiments of this disclosure present a haptic interface for populating three-dimensional virtual environments.
Description of the Related Art
Experts typically manipulate objects in three-dimensional (3D) virtual environments using mouse gestures and keyboard commands, while working in different editing modes such as translation, rotation, scaling, and the like. For example, to move an object in the commercially available Maya® program, a user may move the view of a particular camera (orthographic or perspective), zoom in on the object, and translate the object within the camera view. While adequate for professionals, this form of 3D object manipulation is often difficult to learn and unsuitable for casual users and children, particularly as users are required to understand a non-trivial mapping between the space where the physical device is manipulated and the space of the virtual environment.
Simplified solutions have been proposed to facilitate 3D object manipulation by casual users and children. By limiting the user's choices, such as by forcing predefined positions or orientations, it is possible to simplify the 3D object manipulation process. However, such approaches can limit the expressiveness and depth of what is produced.